Sunday, July 17, 2011

Is it better to spend my college fund on undergrad, or on graduate school?

I'm currently choosing between Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, and University of Florida for undergrad. I would really like to save myself and my parents a lot of money (as I've gotten a full scholarship to UF, but no aid elsewhere). Of course, Dartmouth and Vanderbilt are more "prestigious" schools, and I've heard that the name of your undergraduate school really helps with getting into a good graduate school. Yet, I feel that I would rather do well and really stand out at a school like UF rather than be an average student in a more renowned school. I loved UF's campus and its science and music programs and feel like I would be very happy going there. However, I've also been told that going to a university with a full scholarship can be a bad idea; that if I save up money for graduate school, it would be extremely difficult for me to get any financial aid such as work-study, etc. because I technically wouldn't be in any dire need of money. I've been told that even though I would become financially independent upon finishing undergrad and have very little income, that all my financial assets, such as the unspent savings from my college fund, would be analyzed when applying for aid and thus prevent me from getting grants, scholarships, etc. in grad school. But if I did well in school, would there be plenty of merit scholarships? Plus, I would really like to avoid having to pay off loans if I could. Any thoughts about any of this? I'm just confused from all the different opinions I've been getting about what to do with my money. I thought that saving money for undergraduate would be extremely helpful, but now I'm not sure... If you know people who have been through graduate school and know what it's like financially speaking, or just any advice at all would be helpful. I just want to get a wider perspective on this. Thank you!

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